Outside
of the interpreters and translators themselves
few people really know how the UN language
system really works. Alain will try to shed
some light on how speeches are interpreted
and documents and resolutions translated into
each of the 6 official languages of the UN.
He will explain the difference between official
and working languages, between translation
and interpretation and the almost opposite
technique between the two fields of work.
He will conclude with a few comical anecdotes,
nevertheless underlining the difficult tasks
performed in the languages section.

His
talk will be supplemented by Frank Christopher
who will
explain

how
a country having 16 official languages chooses
only English and Hindi as working languages and only
English for archiving and publication. Ms. Laurence
Bastit will explain how Europe manages their 22 languages
in comparison with the UN and India.

Paris born Alain Archambault has been a translator/interpreter
with the UN from 1963 to 1997 in New York, Geneva and
Bangkok. He remains active in the language field as
a freelancer at the UN.

Frank
Christopher is a graduate of History and Library Science.
He is the Joint Director in the Documentation and Information
Service of the Lok Sabha Secretariat. His work has involved
preserving the official Audio-Visual records of the
Indian Parliament and conducting Seminars and Workshops
in Parliamentary Procedures for Members of Parliament.
He is proficient in English, Hindi and Gurmukhi and
has studied German, Hungarian and Spanish.

Laurence
Bastit is a conference interpreter and a consultant
in French, German and English and works for CIAP ( Conference
interpreters Asia Pacific)

wednesday
7th march

6.30
pm “Kathak a Universal Language” by Natalia
Ivanova

‘Dance
without frontiers festival’

The
inspired dancer is one who listens, watches,
learns and then creates. She is one where
the impulse comes from the tune that fills
the body with the pleasure of hearing, conversing
with the notes, internalizing the wisdom of
the saint poets and finding no other way of
expressing herself but through dance. She
is constantly inspired by her guru and yet
has the great desire to create, to find her
own way of “seeing” things and
letting the body search its own movements.
Natalia at this young age is one such dancer.
Her curiosity has led her from the dance styles
of Spain to the Orient and to India. She has
been enriched by Ladino (a Castilian Spanish
and Hebrew
romance language)

medieval
ballads about lost love and Abhinaya -the expressive
language of Indian classical dance.

In
her solo programme this evening she presents glimpses
of a traditional Kathak repertoire learnt under Guru
Prerana Shrimali. Her Abhinaya piece is done to the
Ladino song “Esta Muntanya’ and her short
choreography ‘Maya’ attempts to fuse movements
of Flamenco and Oriental dance with the rasa energy
of Indian traditional dance that brings alive woman
as symbolical, elusive form. She will also talk about
her passion for dance, movement, language and music.

Natalia
graduated in choreography from the College of Dance
in Volgograd, Russia and started training in Kathak
in the Indian Cultural Centre in Moscow. She completed
her dance training in India on an ICCR scholarship at
the Ghandharv Mahavidyalaya under Guru Prerana Shrimali.
She has performed in various group choreographies with
her guru at the IIC, IHC and the annual functions of
the Vidyalaya. She has also performed extensively in
Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Russia. She conducts
a yearly workshop of professional dancers at the Yekaterinburg
Centre of Modern Art, is also a professional violin
player and a competent Russian miniatures artist.

thursdays
march 8, 15, 22, 29 & april 5, 12,19,26

6.30
to 8 pm
-Ananda Yoga classes by Claudio G.

After
a free introductory workshop on Feb 8, Ananda
Sangha yoga teacher Claudio Gregorelli will
lead a series of 8 Ananda Yoga classes starting
on Thursday March 8 and for every Thursday
evening 6.30-8.00 till April 26 at a cost
of Rs 2000 per person.

In
these classes, the following will be integrated:-

Energization
exercises – a systematic method to increase
the flow of energy in all
the cells of the body. Includes double breathing,
relaxing and tensing individual parts

Asana
(yoga postures)

Pranayama (breathing exercises and energy-control
techniques)

Classical yoga meditation techniques

The instructions will be presented in traditional
Ananda style of teaching yoga with hints of yoga philosophy
as taught by Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda.
This gentle and highly effective approach is
suitable for all ages and body types. It can be very
helpful for getting relaxed, revitalized and uplifted.

Claudio Gregorelli is a disciple of Paramhansa
Yogananda and for the past 15 years has been a certified
yoga teacher from the Ananda Yoga School in California.
Born Italian, he has lived since 1986 at the
international Ananda Assisi retreat (Italy) coordinating
and teaching different Ananda Yoga courses and programs
on Kriya yoga meditation. He is presently teaching
at the Ananda Sangha ashram in Gurgaon www.anandaindia.org.

6.30
pm ”Ittar - the Romance of Fragrance”
a talk in Hindi by Ram Singh Chauhan

It
is reported in a Hadith the holy Prophet of Allah
(peace & blessings be upon him) was asked which
three things he liked, he replied:

"Salah
is the coolness of my eyes, and the things I love
the most in this world are my wives and Ittar.”
(Ahmad,
Nasa'i)

Ittar
is the Arabic word for fragrance, scent or
essence. It is an oil made by distilling flowers
and other natural products to obtain a pure
perfume which has been used for over 5000
years for both liturgical and therapeutic
purposes. The Egyptian, Chinese and Indian
herbal traditions gave a spiritual and philosophical
aura to the use of these aromatic materials.
But the technical chemistry of the French
perfume industry took the aura out of the
pure oils into the cosmetic industry. The
profits of the glamour perfumes skyrocketed
in equal proportion to the ignorance of the
public. The Western perfume is made by
adding a small quantity of pure oil to a large
quantity of denatured alcohol (upto 88%).

This
perfume is not only toxic (methanol) but evaporates
very fast. In India the pure fragrant oils or ittars
are seasonal both in production and use and are pure
extracts of roses (Gulab), jasmines (Chameli, Harsingar),
Vetiver (Khus), Keora , Sandalwood and the most poetic,
the fragrance of the first monsoon rain on parched ground
captured in a bottle (Mitti).

The
entire country’s production is made in one city
in UP and flowers brought from the streams in Rajasthan,
the gardens of Singapore, the rose fields of rural UP
and the forests of Orissa.

Ram
Singh Chauhan whose father was the ‘ittarwala’
to the rajas of Gwalior, Dholpur, Jaipur,
Bharatpur and many others learnt the trade from his
father and joined the business at the age of 20. He
traveled to the royal courts with his father and recounts
the days when the ittars were ordered by the royal family.
How even today bullock carts laden with roses and jasmine
wend their way through the back roads of small villages
to the stills for distillation. He tells of how and
when these fragrances were traditionally used and brings
you the flavour and fragrance of a not yet bygone era.

Due
to an over subscription for the first class
two extra workshops have been added. Each
person can register for only one workshop.

In
China, calligraphy the art of writing is regarded
as the quintessential visual art ranking above
painting as the most important vehicle for
self expression. As such it may be appreciated
in much the same way as abstract art. A single
character, a simple stroke, even a single
dot can reflect a calligrapher’s talent
and learning, his intuition and insight and
all that encompasses his inner spirit.

Moreover
this remarkably spontaneous yet premeditated act of
self expression embraces an artistic tradition thousands
of year’s old and whole epochs of philosophy,
religion and culture. No wonder the Chinese and other
oriental cultures have long regarded calligraphy as
one of their supreme artistic accomplishments.

Chinese calligraphy seems to present the most alien
and remote art form, yet shares the same formal elements
of line, plane and space common to all the arts. In the
West beautiful handwriting is not recognized as a pre-eminent
graphic art, whereas in China, for centuries, calligraphy
has been recognized as the artist’s kinesthetic
gesture of creation, preserved in a single inked line.
Writing is not only an act of communication, it is an
act of self expression.

In
this workshop Michele will talk about the history of
Chinese calligraphy, on the various materials used,
its techniques, it’s utilization of space. How
to hold a brush, how to start drawing a character without
knowing a word of Chinese.

Michele
Archambault was introduced to Chinese Calligraphy in
the early 1970's while she was studying Chinese at the
Hong Kong University. She also travelled to Japan where
she met one of the great Japanese calligraphers, Tejima
Sensei, with whom she kept a close relationship until
his death. For the past 15 years, she has lived in New
York City where she has been privileged to study with
one of the world masters of calligraphy, Professor Zhang
Lung Yan. Her work has been exhibited in his studio
"The White Camellia" and regularly at the China Institute
in NY.

Cost
Rs.250. Maximum number 12. Registration required and
will be confirmed only on receipt of cash or cheque
in the name of “Amarjit Bhagwant Singh Charitable
Trust”. Call 23746050 or email mina@theatticdelhi.org.
Materials will be provided.